Discovering frog community near extinction

For the first time in nearly 50 years, a nearly extinct frog community was discovered in the San Jancito wilderness area of ​​the San Bernadino National Forest. Biologists from the US Geological Survey (USGS) are evaluating the suitability of some areas to restore this frog. Meanwhile, scientists at the San Diego Museum of Natural History followed a natural expedition in 1908 and also discovered this rare yellow-footed mountain frog in the wilderness of San Jacinto near Idyllwild, Calif. .

This finding - along with the successful breeding of this frog of San Diego Zoo, and their efforts to restore their habitat - provide new hopes for the survival of the South Amphibian community. California.

Globally, amphibians are disappearing due to the decline in habitat, the impact of climate change and the spread of a dangerous pathogen called chytrid.The yellow-footed mountain frog is one of three frogs or toads in the Southern California Serious Species List. Prior to this finding, USGS researchers estimated that there were only about 122 yellow-footed mountain frogs in the wild.

USGS biologists and the Natural History Museum of San Diego have discovered this nearly extinct frog in separate trips in June. Frogs are seen at two locations 2 ½ miles apart. in Tahquitz and Willow creeks in the San Jacinto mountain range. The number of frogs in this area has not been determined.

'If the community is big, it could play an important role in restoring this species in Southern California,' said USGS scientist Adam Backlin, who directed the team to discover the first frogs in the creek. Tahquitz June 10.

Scientists from the San Diego Museum of Natural History found this frog on June 25. Researchers followed the 1908 expedition of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. . During that expedition, covering all heights and sides of the San Jacinto Mountain area, the scientists collected this frog in five locations. The group of the San Diego Natural History Museum looks for all vertebrates in the study of regional biology changes. Biologists are in Tahquitz Valley on June 21, when Drew Stokes, the museum's real biologist, discovered and photographed the only yellow-footed mountain frog in Willow Creek. The museum's research will continue until biologists complete three surveys in 19 locations studied during the 1908 expedition.

USGS scientists have discovered this mature yellow-footed mountain frog on June 10 in the Tahquitz river, the rediscovery of the frog community standing on the brink of extinction in the San Jacinto wilderness, National Forest. San Bernardino, California.(Photo: Adam Backlin, US Geological Survey)

Yellow-legged frogs often do not migrate far away, so this finding may very well be a sign of a significant community.The size of this area shows an abundant living environment for the eight golden mountain mountain frog communities at San Jacinto, San Bernardino and the San Gabriel Mountains.

This finding is a blessing for all partners working to increase the number of mountain yellow-legged frogs in the wild. In addition to the USGS and the San Diego Museum of Natural History, this effort is also attended by the Conservation Research Institute of the San Diego secondary garden, the California Department of Transportation, the US Wildlife and Wildlife Protection Agency. , US Forest Protection Agency, University of California, and California Department of Hunting and Fishing.

The San Diego Zoo's Conservation Research Institute was the first to successfully breed a yellow-footed mountain frog. This amphibian has moved from tadpole to adolescent frog.

Jeff Lemm, an animal researcher at San Diego Zoo, said: 'Previously, scientists had a lot of difficulties in breeding frogs. We are very excited about this success and believe that we will have new frog eggs'.

In December 2008, researchers at the Conservation Research Institute discovered a nest of 200 eggs in one of the academy's tanks. The researchers were surprised that the frogs were still quite young compared to the reproductive age. Because of this, only a few eggs have hatched. The next breeding season is predicted in December 2009 to March 2010.

The goal of the breeding program is to return the yellow-legged frog to its original habitat .

The zoo breeding program, with the help of its partners, began after these rare frogs were rescued from a drying creek. Anne Poopatanapong, a wildlife biologist from San Jacinto County Forest Protection Department in San Bernardino National Forest, is checking the water level is lowering in creeks at Darn Canyon on August 23, 2006 when she found that it was very many places are drying up, including a creek where frogs live. Concerned about the possibility of losing tadpoles, she called the Wildlife and Fish Protection Agency, and rescue efforts began the next day. A USGS team led by Dr. Robert Fisher rescued 82 tadpoles, and they were taken to the San Diego Zoo's Conservation Research Institute.

The frog recovery effort is funded by Caltrans to support emergency work and stabilize the slope near frog habitats on Route 330, the San Bernadino Mountains.

Craig Wentworth, Caltrans environmental biologist, said: 'The project of rebuilding the slope has two parallel benefits, opening a road that is going to be broken and help ensure the yellow-footed mountain frog community at the Mountain Range. San Bernadino has a support program for recovery '.

Jim Bartel, field supervisor for the Office of Fish and Wildlife Protection at Carlsbad, said his unit is excited to be part of the effort to rescue the yellow-footed mountain frog and preserve its habitat. the rest of them.

Bartel said: 'We are aiming to bring this animal back to its inherent habitat.'

Protecting and restoring habitats, combined with efforts to bring these frogs back to the area where they once lived, created hope for the reconstruction of large, healthy and healthy mountain frog communities. can survive on their own.